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TRACK: Bill Callahan – ‘Let’s Move to the Country’: Bill out-smogs himself
BESIDES being a songwriter we should grasp close to our chests, we’ve seen time and time again this summer that Bill Callahan has an incredible capacity to surprise. First he goes and pulls a whole new LP out of the hat, Gold Record, laid down quickly and announced unexpectedly. Then – ka-bam! – he starts …
TRACK: Hen Ogledd – ‘Trouble’: further glorious wonkpop from Richard Dawson’s quartet
WHAT started as a side-project for Newcastle’s premiere exponent of passionate out- and wyrd-folk, Richard Dawson, to find an outlet for other musical stylings, has come to take on a wonk-pop life of its own. Originally a side-salad duo with harpist Rhodri Davies, the addition of Dawn Bothwell and Sally Pilkington has fleshed it out …
TRACK: Black Marble – ‘Johnny and Mary’: Robert Palmer gets the lofi synth look
EVERYONE loves a cover version, there can be no argument there; what do they do with the song? Do they tread carefully and deferentially; do they take a sledgehammer to it; do they make it their own? Do they make it something very odd indeed, such as Robyn Hitchcock’s a capella take on “Kung Fu …
TRACK: Andy Shauf – ‘Judy’: low-key baroque folk brilliance
HE’S one of those gorgeous, nuanced, baroque-pop songwriters we could all do with spending a lot more time with, is Andy Shauf. Like fellow countryman Patrick Watson, he has this way with a beautiful pop arrangement that for me puts him firmly in a lineage that stretches back to The Left Banke and Emitt Rhodes: …
TRACK: Monzanto Sound – ’23’: off-kilter dub-punk grooves
THERE’S a real skeletal dub-funk groove, with this offbeat sway and disjuncture; on the one hand, it’s deep and smokin’, on the other, wiry and angular: very The Pop Group. The percussion underpins things, but has its own ideas; it’s busy with polyrhythms of its own, thank you very much. The real heart of the …
SEE: No Age – ‘Turned To String’: new video from low-slung noise rockers
SO LOOK, it’s not even news anymore: 2020, and the world is busy going to hell in a handcart. So just what is a scuzzily excellent, guitar-totin’ US alt.rock band to do? There ain’t no gigs; there no signing sessions. Hell now even the goddam pressing plants are backing up like bad plumbing. The answer? …
TRACK: Tim Englehardt – ‘Shine’: propulsive tech-house atmospheres
TIM ENGELHARDT has been quietly carving away in the world of deep tech- and deep house grooves for a while now. Based in Westerwald, a low and mountainous region on the Rhine, he’s released one album previously, Moments Of Truth, which he out together for Poker Flat in 2017; and more than two dozen singles …
TRACK: The Kondoors – ‘Mr Rain’: classic boy-girl power balladry wants your heart
THE KONDORS is the musical project of Gavin Conder and Jess Greenfield, who were involved romantically long before they were a musical item. Jess has come up through her involvement with Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, a gilt-edged name to have on the CV if ever there was; previously she’s worked with artists such as …
TRACK: 79.5 – ‘My Dream’: timeless, crate-diggin’ retro-soul gem
IT’S absolutely fair to say that Big Crown Records, which has been down in the crates bringing you some incredibly fine cuts out of its Brooklyn base for the past four years, is deeply involved in a heartfelt romance with San Antonio, Texas, Chicano soul legends Sonny & The Sunliners. Mind you, a quick listen …
TRACK: Olivier Alary & Johannes Malfatti – ‘Drifting’: out-classical, ISDN warmth
MONTREAL-based, Toulousain composer Olivier Alary and his Berlin-based compatriot Johannes Malfatti have been friends for many years – that kind of relationship so much easier to conduct in our modern fibre-optic world. With an album apiece under their belts: Johannes’ Surge for Glacial Movements, and Olivier’s 2016 debut for FatCat’s 130701 imprint, Fiction/Non-Fiction, it became …